Despite the defeat, it has been a stunning debut for Hursey, who stands just 1.6m tall and is thought to be the youngest athlete in Commonwealth Games history. Hursey, the youngest competitor fielded by Wales, also played in the women’s team competition, helping the Welsh to doubles wins against India and Sri Lanka.

The school pupil, whose mother is Chinese and who has training stints in China, is known for her attacking style but Chang was able to absorb the pressure as well as Hursey’s noisy support from the crowd.

"She has a lot of supporters but I don’t care about the outside [noise], I just play my match," Chang said.

Hursey’s coach, Stephen Jenkins, praised the girl’s composure in the spotlight, saying: "Nothing fazes her. She is really relaxed when she plays and just enjoys it, really.

"Anna herself says to me she is not nervous, which baffles me, because I’m like, ‘Surely you are a little bit nervous’?" he said. "Anna just thrives off, and feeds off, the crowd, really," the table tennis coach said.

Also on Tuesday, the oldest competitor in Games’ history took part in shooting. Canadian Bob Pitcairn, a 79-year-old former pilot who once foiled the hijacking of a passenger plane, came a respectable eighth out of 16 in the Queen’s Prize Pairs finals fullbore shooting.